Anthropic Pledges 5% of Its Shares to a Fund That Could Help Workers

Claude owner Anthropic has committed a portion of its shares to a new Public Benefit Fund it created to explore and address issues linked to AI, including labour market impacts and AI safety.

According to the company’s blog post, 5% of the AI lab’s shares will be committed to the fund, subject to stockholder approval, with an additional 2% potentially added at the board’s discretion for every 50% increase in the company’s value above a set baseline.

As concerns grow over the economic and societal impact of AI, Anthropic says the fund will give it more flexibility to pursue its mission beyond the work it already carries out within the company.

“The Anthropic Public Benefit Fund will have increased flexibility and scale, enabling us to pursue our mission in new ways,” the company wrote in its blog post.

This could include large donations to nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations, opening up more ways for the company to respond to the effects of AI on society.

Why Anthropic Researcher Jacob Coxon Quit, and Who AgreedCoxon’s warning comes as both OpenAI and Anthropic have faced incidents involving their AI systems gaining access to other organisations’ systems.

How Could This Benefit Workers?

One area Anthropic has identified is the impact of AI on jobs. The company acknowledges that while the technology could generate enormous economic value, it could also create instability for many workers.

Anthropic has already committed $200 million to studying and addressing this issue. The new fund could give the company more room to explore additional responses, including financial support for people affected by AI, although it has yet to outline what these efforts might look like.

The announcement comes as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has repeatedly raised concerns about the risks posed by rapidly advancing AI, including its potential impact on employment.

What Are People Saying About It?

The announcement has also drawn scepticism on X, with some users questioning the motives behind the fund and Anthropic’s broader approach to AI safety.

One user wrote on X, “What on earth does Anthropic have internally to be doing this”